Edo G. Is Victorious Over The Enemy Within 'My Own Worst Enemy' album

The legendary Edo G. has returned with a new album "My Own Worst Enemy" which is 75% produced by Pete Rock. Todd E Jones interviews the the Boston emcee!

Edo G. is a legend in the world of independent and underground hip-hop. The Boston emcee has been creating honest hip-hop albums with an originality and individuality for over a decade. He believes that if he is simply himself on a record, people have to respect the truth in his performance. Without a fake image or gimmick, Edo G. has earned respect by being the same person on wax as he is on the street. In the early 90’s, the albums “Life Of A Kid In The Ghetto” and “Roxbury 02119” were released on PolyGram/Mercury under the name Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs. After we went solo, he released the critically acclaimed independent album “The Truth Hurts” on Ground Control. With production by DJ Premier, Pete Rock and others, the “The Truth Hurts” LP gave Edo G. a whole new life in the world of independent and underground hip-hop. He also released the very slept-on “Wishful Thinking” too. With timeless collaborations on Masta Ace's "The Long Hot Summer” LP and on Guru’s “Bald Head Slick & The Click” LP, Edo G. has remained a solid emcee that consistently rocked mics. During the tail end of 2004, Edo G. returned with “My Own Worst Enemy” released on Fat Beats Records. With only 10 tracks, “My Own Worst Enemy” is an extremely tight LP that is short and sweet. Pete Rock produces 75% of the album while legendary producers Diamond D and DJ Revolution produce other songs. All of the ingredients of a solid album were mixed together to form something special. Besides the new LP, Edo G. has been a busy man. He runs a management company called Straight Up Management and is releasing a crew album by his group Special Teams. On a cold winter evening, I had a conversation with the legendary Boston emcee about jail, music, production, labels, and much more. Edo G. truly believes that the only person stopping him from following their dreams is the enemy inside himself. These days, Edo G. has remained victorious over the enemy within.

T.JONES: “What goes on?”
EDO G.: “Same sh*t. I’m trying to get it cracking, man. I’m working on a group album right now, Special Team’s project. Myself, Jaysaun, and this other cat from Boston.”

T.JONES: “Your new album is called ‘My Own Worst Enemy’. Tell us about it.”
EDO G.: “Basically, my man, Pete Rock produced around 75% of it. He’s on the album too. He’s on the track ‘Right Now’. Diamond D produced. He’s rhyming on ‘Streets Is Callin’. We got Masta Ace. My man Jaysaun is all over it. My man Krumbsnatcha is on it. My man DJ Revolution did the last joint on the album called ‘Revolution’.”

T.JONES: “The LP is actually pretty short compared to most hip-hop albums out these days. Was that intentional?”
EDO G.: “I just wanted to make something new, something really short and sweet that people could play and not get sick of. I didn’t want to make something with like 17 or more songs and 8 of them songs fillers and only like 5 good songs. I think people just over-do it now.”

T.JONES: “What is the meaning behind the title ‘My Own Worst Enemy’?”
EDO G.: “The title is basically this. You are your own worst enemy. Anything that you want to do, you can do. People can try to hate or throw roadblocks in your way. If you let that get to you, you can become your own worst enemy. If you want to do something, you can do it. No one can stop you but you.”

T.JONES: “Pete Rock produced most of the album. How did that collaboration happen?”
EDO G.: “Well, Pete Rock did something on my last album, ‘The Truth Hurts’. I worked with him on a joint called ‘Situations’. It came out real hot. I went to his crib and looked through a bunch of sh*t. He had a ton of hot beats. I told him, ‘I want to do some more work with you.’ I had the opportunity when my former manager gave me the idea. I called Pete Rock and he was down to do it. I called up Fat Beats and soon, everybody got on board.”

T.JONES: “As a producer, how is Pete Rock’s creative process different from someone like Diamond D or the other producers on your album?”
EDO G.: “Pete would make a beat right on the spot. He is just a total beat maker. That dude just loves making beats. You go to his house and you can just sit there for hours with him making beats. With him, the process is easy. You go to the crib, the basement, and just listen. He’ll play you some loops and if you like the loops, he’ll start hooking it up on the spot. He’s one of those types of cats. Diamond D just has a ton of sh*t. Premo. When I worked with DJ Premier on my last album, he gives you one beat. ‘You like it?’. If not, he’ll give you another beat. All the producers are different but Pete, he’s a good dude to work with.”

T.JONES: “When you write a song, do you write from the beat or do you have pre-written lyrics or thought out themes ready?
EDO G.: “Sometimes, I have lyrics that are already written that may go to a specific beat but most of the time, I just get the track and take it from there.”

T.JONES: “How did you hook up with Fat Beats to release ‘My Own Worst Enemy’?”
EDO G.: “That was the first company we brought the project to. They agreed to the terms we were looking for so, we just ran with them. We wanted to make the project happen. We didn’t want to go through a long process of trying to get a deal for it. The LP still took a long time.”

T.JONES: “Out of the many albums you released, which one is your favorite?”
EDO G.: “I love ‘The Truth Hurts’ a lot. I put out an EP in 2002 that had 8 tracks on it. I loved that one too. I love this record, ‘My Own Worst Enemy’. I cannot really pick just one record because they are all different and I love them all. My least favorite is ‘Roxbury 02119’. I had some dope stuff on there but I had some ‘whatever’ sh*t on there too. The last couple of albums I released are the ones I am really excited about.”

T.JONES: “Do you have a favorite song on ‘My Own Worst Enemy’?”
EDO G.: “I think ‘Just Call My Name’ is my favorite song. I love that beat. We did it at Unique Studios in New York. They closed down a while back. It was right in Times Square. We just had it blasting. It was turned up as loud as it could possibly be. To hear that beat as loud as you possibly could hear, it was a really crazy experience. The speaker wind was hitting you in the face! It was that loud.”

T.JONES: “You have been in the hip-hop industry a long time. What is the main things that made you maintain?”
EDO G.: “I think just consistency for doing what I do best, pure hip-hop. I’m not trying to do whatever is popular or whatever. I’m just doing what I feel comes natural. I think people can respect that. I think people can appreciate when you are being original.”

T.JONES: “Who has been in your CD player or on your turntable recently?”
EDO G.: “Slum Village, Musiq, Soulchild. I’m a laid back dude. The Mobb Deep album is really hot. I like The Roots album, ‘The Tipping Point’ too. They only had around 10 tracks too. ‘Star’ is dope.”

T.JONES: “What was it like growing up in Boston?”
EDO G.: “We’re not that far. We are about 3 ½ hours from New York. We got a lot of stuff, especially from the 70’s and 80’s. It was all on cassette. People would just go to New York, chill with their family, and tape the radio. Back then, radio was so dope that people would tape it. We had our own identity.”

T.JONES: “What are the 3 best things about living in Boston?”
EDO G.: “I was born and raised in Boston. My family is there. That’s #1. The second thing is that it’s a big, untapped market. In the whole New England area, we have around 5 or 6 states. It has just really been open to the public in the past 10 years. Everything used to have to come to Providence because Boston would not have hip-hop. I just think that we are all the way on the top. We are kind of near Canada.”

T.JONES: “You also worked with Guru (from Gangstarr) on the ‘Bald Head Slick’ album. How did that collaboration happen and what was it like?”
EDO G.: “Sh*t, I knew Guru from here in Boston. In the 80’s, we were doing talent shows. He just asked me. I was working at Landspeed and we just put it out. He just asked me to do it. I went down to New York and we chilled out and did it. I’m actually supposed to do the second one but I haven’t talked to him in a while.”

T.JONES: “What is the last incident of racism that you experienced?”
EDO G.: “I got into a fight a couple of years ago and I ended up getting locked up for the weekend. I saw how the cops treated different people. I had to go to court for fighting and stupid stuff. I didn’t even have a record! I did some little sh*t when I was a kid like stealing and stupid stuff but I don’t even have a record. They actually tried to give me 6 months for a fight. To me, that’s racism right in front of my face. When I was in the holding cell, there was this white dude in there who broke into a Western Union. The kid only got 2 years because he had a good lawyer and his family had money. That’s a federal offence and he only got 2 years! I’m not into the criminal system but I know mad people are getting screwed over by the system. Anybody with money can get off… period.”

T.JONES: “Word association. I’m going to say an artist or name of a person and you tell me the first word that pops in your head. So, if I say ‘Chuck D’, you may say ‘revolutionary’. Okay?”
EDO G.: “Yeah.”

T.JONES: “Gangstarr.”
EDO G.: “Pure hip-hop.”

T.JONES: “Mr. Lif”
EDO G.: “Underground pure hip-hop.”

T.JONES: “Eminem.”
EDO G.: “Ehh.”

T.JONES: “Dead Prez.”
EDO G.: “Dope revolutionaries.”

T.JONES: “Boot Camp Clik.”
EDO G.: “Dope emcees, dope hip-hop artists.”

T.JONES: “Common.”
EDO G.: “Dope lyricist.”

T.JONES: “Phife Dawg.”
EDO G.: “Best supporting emcee.”

T.JONES: “J-Live.”
EDO G.: “All around dope emcee, DJ, producer.

T.JONES: “Did you ever see him do ‘Braggin Writes’ live?”
EDO G.: “We were on tour together in Europe. That’s my man. Braggin Writes’ is so crazy. We actually combined the tour. Asheru is my man too. Those dudes are mad cool.”

T.JONES: “Gil Scott-Heron.”
EDO G.: “Classic.”

T.JONES: “George Bush.”
EDO G.: “Dumb.”

T.JONES: “What do you think of the U.S. involvement with the Middle East?”
EDO G.: “I think it’s f*cked up, man. We have all these young kids getting blown up. They joined the army for college or a better life and they are over there getting blown up. It’s a terrible situation. I watched this program ‘Letters From Home’ and I was crying, man! I’m not a punk dude but I’m not afraid to admit that the show touched me all the way. You don’t get to see what the families are going through. One cat who died over there can affect 50 people in a family.”

T.JONES: “What is the biggest misconception people have of you?”
EDO G.: “I don’t know. I haven’t heard too many. Just being that I’m independent, people don’t know that I put out a lot more projects. People think that I’m not putting out music. People don’t know.”

T.JONES: “What’s with Da Bulldogs?”
EDO G.: “They’re chilling, living life, working. They are still doing music part time.”

T.JONES: “What advice would you give to an up and coming emcee going the independent route?”
EDO G.: “Become a businessman. Find out how the business works. When you are independent, that’s the best way to start with your own destiny.”

T.JONES: “If you could remake any classic hip-hop song, what would it be?”
EDO G.: “Probably ‘Raw’ by Big Daddy Kane. He was my favorite emcee.”

T.JONES: “Who are some emcees who you would like to work with in the future?”
EDO G.: “Nas. His new sh*t is really hot. He’s one of the dopest lyricists.”

T.JONES: “Who are some producers who you would like to work with in the future?”
EDO G.: “Pharrell of The Neptunes. His stuff is real crazy. Just Blaze is always hot. He’s real consistent with his joints. There aren’t too many producers that really excite me now. Pete Rock always does his thing right.”

T.JONES: “Out of all the collaborations, which one are you most proud of?”
EDO G.: “Probably the DJ Premier track ‘Sayin Somethin’ that was on ‘The Truth Hurts’ album because I wanted to work with him for mad years. The record came out dope. The song with Black Thought came out dope too.”

T.JONES: “How did you hook up with Masta Ace?”
EDO G.: “We knew each other for mad years and decided to do something. We did a 12-inch together with these Long Island kids called Time Machine. That set it off. I did the joint on his album and he did a joint on my album. We toured together. I toured on the ‘Long Hot Summer’ tour with him.”

T.JONES: “What was the biggest mistake you have made in your career?”
EDO G.: “It was years ago at The Boston Music Awards. Marky Mark and I were both up for awards. There was like a battle between me and him. At the end of the night, he came up to me and talked but I was real ignorant and sh*t. He felt my music and I kind of dissed him because he was corny at the time. Looking back, I could have toured with him back then.”

T.JONES: “What can we expect from Edo G. in the future?”
EDO G.: “We are going on tour this January. We have a Special Teams album coming out. I’m Vice President of Straight Up Entertainment and we have that album and the solo album by Jaysaun. I’m running the label and putting projects out. I’m just trying to build an empire out here in the North East.”

T.JONES: “What do you want on your epitaph?”
EDO G.: “I don’t even want to think about that, man.”

T.JONES: “Any last words for the people who are going to read this?”
EDO G.: “Pick up the album ‘My Own Worst Enemy’ on Fat Beats Records. You won’t be disappointed. Check for Edo G. in the future. I’ve got a lot of stuff coming out.

Thank you Edo G. !

Interview by Todd E. Jones
toddejones@yahoo.com

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Edo G. Is Victorious Over The Enemy Within - My Own Worst Enemy